> Anima is all around us. All living things use anima. Everyone knows that magicians can harness the power of anima. However, how many people know that anima empowers our every move?

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> Folk tales about shamans channeling anima from air, water, and fire are commonplace, but there are also documented cases of ordinary people being able to channel anima through their bodies spontaneously during emergency situations.

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> How many of you have seen the video of Helga Bruun lifting a truck with one hand and throwing it seven feet away when it fell on her child?

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> —Excerpt from Prof. Lillian Skov’s introductory lecture to her first-year students

Asteria

I’m on Verden! I’ve reincarnated!

My exit from Earth was gruesome enough that I don’t want to think about it. Dying wasn’t pretty or painless. I miss my old family, of course, but it can’t be helped. I suppose that the long, pain-filled days I endured while waiting to die gave me enough time to resign myself to my fate. It was quite a relief when the goddess came and took me away.

I’m in Lieceni, a little village right on the eastern edge of Lake Tradfed with the Kolhavn mountain range at its northern side. Kraej City is far to the northwest.

The mission I had accepted from the goddess was to cleanse the world of Verden of the last remaining traces of an alien infection that had devastated the world 8,000 years ago and wiped out 99 percent of the population.

Yes, I, who died from a virus in my world, have been tasked with cleaning up a virus in another world.

It wasn’t going to be easy.

***

I was in the basement of my home where I’d decided to start my first mission. The sole Kraej heir, Magnus, had been kidnapped. I knew about this from one of the prequels released after “Tales of Vesterland.” He was currently twelve years old, just like me. My plan was to save and befriend Magnus, one of the very few people in this world who has virtually unlimited access to advanced weaponry and the latest inventions.

First, I have to use my special skill, Spirit Incarnate, an extremely complicated spell that allows me to teleport from one place to another. It can’t be used on another person.

Second, I’ll sneak into the cave where the kidnappers stashed Magnus.

Third, Star of Fate, another one of my special skills, will allow me to teleport him out of there and back to Kraej City.

Okay, here goes nothing!

I concentrated on feeling the anima in my body and willed it to stop flowing. Time seemed to come to a total standstill as all of my bodily functions came to a halt. I stopped breathing and the very blood in my veins ceased to flow. The neurons in my brain stopped firing. The only thing alive in me was my spirit. A blinding golden glow surrounded me and my body started to dissolve into golden sparks that faded until there was nothing left.

Inside a small tunnel, golden sparks materialized and danced around a central figure that slowly took on a concrete form.

Flawless success! Spirit Incarnate was now complete and I had teleported into the tunnel that led into the cave where Magnus was.

I shoved my fist into my mouth to stop myself from screaming but I allowed myself to roll around on the ground a few times. As expected, disincarnation and incarnation was an extremely painful process. I lay on the ground whimpering for a long time before I found the strength to stand.

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Which way to the cave? It’s true that I have a terrible sense of direction, but I think I can be forgiven this time because a featureless tunnel isn’t exactly an easy place to navigate. I picked a direction at random and, after walking for a while, found that it was the way out. What a waste of time! I started walking the other way and found myself at a dead end.

It was just like the game! I dug around the tunnel wall half a foot above the ground to discover that there was a tiny hidden wooden door just big enough for me to use. Sweet, now it was time to rescue the little prince of Kraej.

I entered the cave where a flickering torch illuminated a stack of crates and a little boy whose hands and legs were tied. Magnus hadn’t heard me arrive because he was busy crawling like a worm towards the main entrance to the cave. No doubt he was trying to escape. Sadly for him, even if he succeeded in exiting the cave he would just be put right back in it because there were guards near that entrance.

Magnus’ eyes above his gag widened when he saw me. He was a pretty little boy with fair skin, caramel blond hair, and big hazel eyes.

Shit! I forgot to bring a knife. Since I had no way of cutting the ropes, I simply grabbed Magnus by his arms and dragged him to the hidden door and pushed him through. Once in the dubious safety of the tunnel, I remove his gag and I put a finger on my lips to tell him to keep quiet. The ropes were tied tight and it was hard for me to undo them.

“Pocket,” Magnus hissed softly.

I searched through his jeans’ pockets until I found a little penknife which I used to saw through his bonds. Neither one of us spoke as we started running out of the tunnel. At the entrance, I stopped and pointed outside. “Their hideout is right there.”

I didn’t need to say that I was referring to his kidnappers.

“Who are you?” said Magnus.

“Your rescuer,” I said. I was tempted to say “I’m an angel” but I figured that would be pushing it.

Magnus snorted. Unlike me, he was big for his age, and his jeans, T-shirt, and sneakers were of the best quality. I was small, underfed, and dressed in a patched, cheap dress.

“My name is Asteria,” I said. “Don’t worry, I’ll get you out of here with my special skill.”

“A special skill?” he whispered. He looked quite impressed.

Special skills were normally the result of people in danger unconsciously triggering the anima in their bodies to save them. Their emotional stress and survival instinct cause the anima in their body to make them stronger and faster. For example, if someone is about to be trampled, the anima in their bodies could react by using wind anima to move them ten feet away. Thus, they gain a special skill.

Special skills weren’t that rare among soldiers and magic users but most civilians didn’t have any. For a child like me to have a special skill indicated that I had survived a dangerous situation. Being able to control that skill meant I had a remarkable talent in anima manipulation.

“I can create a portal for you but it can only be used once. You say the place where you want to go and it will take you there,” I said.

“What about you?” he asked.

“I live near here so I can just sneak away.” I was lying, of course. Lieceni wasn’t anywhere near this place. I would have to use Spirit Incarnate again. “You have to say the exact place, okay? Don’t say ‘Kraej City.’ You should say ‘my bedroom’ or something like that.”

“Hey, your name is Asteria, right? I’m Magnus Kraej. How do I know if you got out?”

“I’ll call you,” I said. Landlines were available to people in the city but not out here in the boondocks. “What’s your number?’

He told me his house’s private telephone number and started childishly babbling about the things he would give me if I rescued him. To hear him talk he was willing to give me the treasures of Verden plus a mountain of toys and sweets. I let him talk while I worked.

Star of Fate was an easy skill to use, unlike Spirit Incarnate. I used Magnus’ penknife to scratch a star on the ground and used it as a focal point to gather the anima around us.

“...And you can buy as many dresses as you want,” he said, looking at my threadbare clothing. Cute kid. It’s hard to believe that this little towheaded boy was going to turn into the ruthless, bald, overweight CEO of the later games.

As anima poured into the star-shaped pattern on the ground, it started glowing with a soft golden light.

“It’s almost ready,” I said. “Remember, my name is Asteria. I’ll call you so don’t change your phone number.”

“I won’t,” said Magnus. “Do you wanna be friends?”

Aw! Are cute kids my weakness? I couldn’t resist hugging the boy. “Yes, I wanna be friends.”

“Ew, girl cooties!” said Magnus. He started vigorously wiping away imaginary cooties from his arms.

The star’s glow peaked in intensity and I said, “Say your destination out loud then step onto the star.”

“Thank you,” said Magnus. “I swear I’ll never forget you!”

“I hope so,” I said.

He took a deep breath then said, “Mother’s kitchen.”

Magnus stepped into the star portal and disappeared. Instantly, the Star of Fate flared so brightly that I would have been blinded if I hadn’t already turned away, closed my eyes, and covered them with my hands for good measure. Every living non-sentient creature for twenty meters around died as their anima was drained to power the teleportation portal I had created. Nothing would be able to grow here for a thousand years. That’s why this skill wasn’t something I planned to use more than once.

I clicked my heels together three times, pretending that I was wearing ruby slippers, and said, “There’s no place like home.”

Damn, it was harder to teleport myself now that I knew how much Spirit Incarnate hurt.